Today's action came in two chunks with the early morning stuff coming from Thailand before we later moved on to fights from Russia. It's wasn't action that will rival Saturday's but it was still more than enough to warm us up for the weekend.

Surat Thani, Thailand
The Thai action wasn't really high profile though it did see former WBC Minimumweight champion Oleydong Sithsamerchai (54-1-1, 20) in action as he defended his WBC International Super Flyweight title against the over-matched Noli Morales (10-5, 3). Morales was completely out of his depth and, although Oleydong isn't a big puncher, he lasted just 4 rounds.

As well as Oleydong's bout we've been informed there were two others. These saw veteran Noknoi Sitthiprasert (49-4, 28) taking a decision over the experienced Fernando Lumacad (29-8-3, 12) and Morakote Patanakan Gym (9-3, 5) scoring a quick blow out over over an over-matched foe. From what we under-stand the Japanese fighter was Shigeru Murata, though we're unsure on his record.

Moscow, Russia
Although the action kicked off in Thailand it was the Russian card that many fans were more interested in and it kicked off around 8 hours after the Thai show had finished.

The card had interesting bouts through out, the first of which was an excellent win for the very highly regarded Sergey Lipinets (2-0, 1) who stopped the over-matched Dzemil Cosovic (3-2-1, 1) in 4 rounds. We're really looking forward to seeing what Lipinets does in the future though some have described him as a future Russian superstar.

On the under card there wasn't just a victory for Lipinets but also for Evgeny Smirnov (2-0, 1) who defeated Milan Savic (1-2-1) via a 6 round decision. Although not as highly regarded as Lipinets there are good things being said about Smirnov.

Another man down the card who was in action was Eduard Troyanovsky (18-0, 15) who made light work of Anton Bekish (5-11, 4). Unfortunately for Troyanovsky he was hoping to fight Richar Abril but numerous issues have prevented that bout from happening, including both fighters suffering injures. It seems likely that he this was a stay busy fight for the Russian Lightweight hopeful but it'll have been a frustrating one for him after all the promises of a world title bout this year.

Further up the card Aslanbek Kozaev (25-1-1, 7) took a 10 round decision over the out matched Igor Faniyan (14-8-2, 7). It wasn't a great match up but it was Kozaev's first bout since his loss to Ray Robinson in the US in February.

The chief support bout on the show saw Russian Cruiserweight hopeful Rakhim Chakhkiev (19-1, 14) defend his WBC international Cruiserweight title for the first time as he over-came former world title challenger Santander Silgado (25-2, 20). Although the victory was a good one for Chakhkiev he really did struggle early on with Silgado who, despite losing, made life difficult for the highly touted Russian.

Although Chakhkiev struggled his compatriot, Alexander Povetkin (27-1, 19) looked sensation as he returned to the ring and dominated Manuel Charr (26-2, 15) in a very, very impressive performance. Povetkin bounced shots off Charr at will before closing the show with a world class combination that sent Charr down hard in round 7 for a genuinely eye catching victory for the Russian Heavyweight.


Metro Manila, Philippines
In the Philippines fans got to see the hard hitting Marbon Bodiongan (10-1-2, 8) wipe out the limited Cris Leon (7-10-4, 3) in 7 rounds. Bodiongan is now unbeaten in 5 with 4 KO's in those 5 bouts since his sole defeat back in August 2012.

(Image, of Oleydong, courtesy of boxrec.com)

The build up to this weekend has been amazing and even when we've not been expecting much the action has continued to roll, just as it did on Thursday.

Tarlac, Philippines
The action for Thursday was in the Philippines and although it wasn't at a high level it was still interesting through out.

The main event of the show was the only 10 round on the card as Daniel Ferreras (13-8-2, 4) took a decision over the always tough but limited Rex Olisa (10-24-1, 8). Olisa managed to make things difficult for Ferreras, and really did push his man hard, though was the loser on all 3 cards, which sadly included a very unfair 98-91 card which didn't reflect the competitiveness of the contest.

Daniel wasn't the only Ferreras on the card as Ronelle Ferreras (14-7-2, 5), fresh off the back of his loss to Kosei Tanaka, over-came the very poor Roy Albaera (2-23-5) who retired after a round. This was the 17th stoppage loss of Albaera's 30 fight career and we can't help but feel that fans have got to be a bit sick when they see him in the ring and then retiring, which he has done numerous times in recent fights.

The only other stoppage on this show saw Eric Panza (4-2-1, 1) take a 3rd round TKO victory over Marco Niones (3-13, 1) who was down 3 times in a round.

The only 6 round bout that went the distance saw Junar Adante (5-0-1, 2) taking a decision over Jonel Borbon (1-13-1,1). Borbon was dropped in the opening round and it did look like we were going to have an early blow out but he fought back well and made Adante work hard to take home the victory.

Both of the 4 rounders went the full distance with the unbeaten Michael Bravo (5-0, 1) defeating the still win-less Joshro Lindon (0-2). Lindon wasn't the only man who failed to get off the mark as Fidel Cuyno (2-3-2) defeated Alberto Pente-Costes (0-2) who still remains win-less.

We're sorry when we get delayed results but this Monday's results were ones that took a while to get to us, sadly. Thankfully here they are!

Camarines Sur, Philippines
Much of the days Asian action was in the Philippines on a show at the Pili Capitol Convention Center which featured 8 bouts in total.

This card's main event saw Al Sabaupan (22-2-1, 17) scoring an 8th round retirement victory over Sadiki Momba (16-4-2, 4) as he recorded his second successive victory following a loss to Ricardo Dominguez, in Mexico, in March 2013. Sabaupan could wellfind himself in a notable bout by the end of the year though will need to keep racking up victories to get anyone of any real fame after him.

In the co-feature the unbeaten JR Magboo (15-0-2, 7) out pointed the limited Angelito Merin (7-4-2, 1) to continue the excellent unbeaten run to his career. It's now time that Magboo stepped up a level from the Merin's of the world and took on a notable domestic rival in a bout that could put him onto the Asian scene as opposed to just the domestic one.

Another of the scheduled 10 rounders saw Jetro Pabustan (23-2-5, 6) taking a 9th technical decision victory over the very tough Danilo Pena (26-18-3, 11) who has now gone 1-8-1 in his last 10 bouts. Although Pena's record, especially recently, has been poor he is significantly trickier than the numbers suggest.

The hard hitting Al Rivera (10-1, 8) managed to continue to leave a wake of battered fighters behind him as he stopped the usually durable Rufino Mante (8-18-2, 4) to continue his winning run, which now stands at 10 straight wins following a debut defeat. 

Rather oddly 3 of the 8 bouts on the show ended in the 2nd round. These bouts saw Michael Dasmarinas (16-1, 10) defeating the experienced Elbert Guardario (8-25-1, 2), who retired from the bout, Lolito Sonsona (18-1-4, 8) also recorded a 2nd round retirement victory as Jovel Romasasa (10-14, 4) had had enough rather early in their bout. The other early finish came Michael Rosal (3-2, 2) knocked out the debuting Filipe Auganan (0-1).

The only other bout on the card saw Justo Bornilla (4-0-2) held to a 6 round majority draw by Jheritz Chavez (2-0-2, 2). Surprisingly both men kept their unbeaten records in this one.

Thailand
We've been informed by our Thai source that Kaewfah tor Buamas (16-0, 9) successfully claimed the  WBA Asia Super Featherweight title with a stoppage over China's Shi Shi Long (0-9-1) who we believe was stopped in the 11th round of their bout. This bout, not yet listed on boxrec, was solidly covered with a military presence due to the current political situation in Thailand which unfortunately doesn't seem like it's going to calm down any time soon. Thankfully we've not heard off too many major issues even if it's not particularly stable at the moment.

As always thanks go out to Pal for the information regarding the Thai fight.

Almost everyone in the boxing world is looking towards this coming weekend, a weekend that promises action and violence across the world. This past Wednesday however saw Japan's fans getting a bit of that violence a few days early thanks to two ranked Japanese fighters who put it all on the line in a true balls to the wall brawl.

Tokyo, Japan
The bout in question was the headline bout on "Dangan 102" and saw Kengo Nagashima (14-10-2, 13), the #9 ranked Japanese Light Middleweight, and Shusaku Fujinaka (10-4-2, 6), the #9 ranked Japanese Welterweight, teeing off on each other with little regard to defence. The bout was a pure, unadulterated slugfest with both men taking more than an average bouts worth of damage.

Despite being cut in round 5 Nagashima, a ridiculously tough fighter, continued to fight back and eventually forced a 7th round stoppage of Fujinaka. The victory, Nagashima's 4th in 5 bouts should establish him as a contender at 147lbs, where this contest was fought, and contest with Suyon Takayama, the national champion at Welterweight, could be very interesting.

In the chief support bout the fans got to see another ranked fighter pick up a victory as the #6 ranked Japanese Featherweight Noriyuki Ueno (17-11-5, 5) proved he was better than his record. Ueno, fighting against Yudai Koizumi (11-7-2, 4), managed to do enough to take a clear 8 round decision to extend his current unbeaten run to 4 successive bouts.

A third bout featuring a Japanese ranked fighter saw Minimumweight Yutaka Sowano (9-5-1, 6) out point Takahiro Fujii (6-3-1, 2). At least we believe this is right. Two of our sources have stated Sowana recorded a very close victory though the official Dangan site states Sowana lost the decision to Fujii.

As well as the 3 bouts involving ranked fighters we have a further 5 bouts. The best of these saw Yuta Matsuo (5-1-1, 3) fight to an 8 round split draw with former ranked fighter Masafumi Tonomura (15-8-2, 6). At the end there was very little to separate the two men and a draw was certainly a fair result even though both men may feel they did enough to deserve the victory.

Immediately prior to the 8 rounders there was a "Rookie of the Year" qualifying bout that saw Yuichi Katayama (3-2, 2) out point Atsushi Kudo (2-3-2, 2) in a very competitive contest. This is the sort of bout that makes the Rookie of the Year competition so good to watch in the early stages and although both men lacked the finer aspects to their boxing they both came to win and gave it their all.

The shows first 3 bouts were just basic domestic novice bouts. These saw Japanese based Colombian Elfelos Vega (4-1, 3) wiping out the win-less Masahiro Fuse (0-2) in 4 rounds. The other 2 bouts were both very close with Rasher Aoki (1-1) claiming a majority victory over the debuting Shinobu Charlie Hosokawa (0-1) and 
Miyo Yoshida (1-0) taking a majority over Ayaka Sato (1-2, 1).


(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp was from the thrilling main event)

This past Tuesday wasn't the busiest day in boxing though we did get some action in Japan, albeit only on the domestic scene.

Tokyo, Japan
The card, dubbed "Excite Fight" turned out not to be as as exciting as some had hoped. Unfortunately the biggest disappointment was the main event which ended in a 3rd round technical draw between the hard hitting Tsuyoshi Tameda (9-1-2, 7) and the tough Jimmy Paypa (15-2-1, 5). We did have high hopes for this bout but, as can always happen, an accidental injury caused a very premature conclusion.

Although the main event was disappointing the chief support was an enjoyable and competitive encounter with Yasuyuki Akiyama (9-4-1, 7) taking a decision over Chatchai Sithsaithong (8-4, 6). Despite both guys having decent power this did manage to go the scheduled 8.

A third bout that was scheduled for 8 lasted just 148 seconds as Yoshihiro Utsumi (11-5-3, 6) made very light work of the debuting Prayut Saknarong (0-1).

The main event wasn't the only bout blighted by the evil "technical draw" as an under-card bout between Akihiro Hikichi (3-3-3) and Yoshiki Abe (3-1-2, 1) ended in similar fashion, though that was in just the second round.

Thankfully the shows other 3 under-card bouts all found conclusive results. These saw Kosuke Arioka (1-1, 1) stopping the debuting Ikuya Uehara (0-1) in 94 seconds, Yuki Nagano (3-2, 3) taking out Yuya Nagayoshi (3-6, 1) at the 46 second mark of round 3 and Tsuguyasu Nakamura (2-3, 1) taking a 4 round decision over Naoto Ura (1-3, 1)

(Image courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

With everyone looking forward to the coming weekend it was easy to ignore the past weekend despite some genuinely interesting contests that took place on Sunday.

Wakayama, Japan
The biggest show of the three Asian shows was at the Big Wave in Wakayama. The show, whilst not a huge one, was a significant one for fans of both Asian boxing and female boxing with two highly regarded female fighters in action.

The first of of the female fighters in action was former WBA female Minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada (13-1-2, 3) who bounced back from a 10 month absence from the ring by stopping the over-matched Rathsada Sor Worasin (0-2) in the 8th round. Tada, who lost in her last fight to Anabel Ortiz, hinted that she wants to return to world title fights later this year and effectively called out all the champions between 102lbs and 108lbs. In theory this could lead to some excellent bouts with the likes of Momo Koseki, Yuko Kuroki or Ayaka Miyao.

Tada's fight was one of two female bouts on the show with the main event being the other. This main event saw WBC female Flyweight champion Shindo Go (14-2, 9) stop Thai challenger Kledpetch Lookmuangkan (6-3, 1), early in round 8. This was Go's second defence of the title she won last year, when she defeated Hungary's Renata Szebeledi, and it has helped make her a star of sorts in Wakayama where fans turned out in their droves to see their local world champion.

It wasn't all female action on this show, neither was it all predictable action and in the main male bout of the show fans saw a serious upset as Shingo Kawamura (9-2, 4), the #15 ranked Japanese Featherweight, was stopped in the third round by Thai debutant Attano Kunlawong (1-0, 1). This debut for Attanon was a very surprising result that the sort of thing that could see a promoter becoming very interested in the Thai.

Lower down the card we had a series of 4 rounders, none of which went the the distance, with the shortest of them being a 2nd round TKO victory for Marcos Sogabe (4-9-1, 4), who stopped the debuting Koichi Sumiya (0-1). As well as the second round stoppage there were a pair of 3rd round TKO's that saw Kosei Toyoda (1-1-1, 1) stopping Koichi Wakita (0-1) and Masashi Wakita (4-1, 2) stopping Katsuhito Kudo (0-2). The longest lasting of the under-card bouts went into the 4th round as Kyohei Tonomoto (3-1, 2) had to wait to finish off Takuya Yamamoto (4-8, 3).

Mie, Japan
A second Japanese show took place in Mie as Suzuka Niimi Promotions put on a small card at the Nishino Athletic Park Gym.

The main event in this show saw Riichi Kawase (5-6-2, 1) narrowly squeaking past Masami Moriizumi (5-4-1, 4) via a split decision in one of two very close 6 round bouts. The other close bout saw Tokunori Hoshiyama (5-2-1, 1) taing a close unanimous decision over Yuya Nakazato (5-11, 5).

In the only other 6 round bout on this show fans saw Kengo Maruhashi (5-11-2, 5) show off his power as he stopped Naoki Minami (5-6-1) in the 5th round.

As well as the 6 round bouts this show also had a number of 4 rounders on it, only 1 of which actually went the distance as the unbeaten Masaru Urata (4-0-1, 1) extended his unbeaten streak with a decision over Masato Oike (2-2-3).

Between them the other 3 bouts scheduled for 4 rounds lasted just a combined 4 rounds. These saw a pair of opening round stoppages as Yuto Nakamura (1-0, 1) took out fellow debutant Hideto Ota (0-1) in 92 seconds and Kazuma Sugiura (1-0, 1) won another all debutant fight, stopping Yuya Hiraiwa (0-1) in 103 seconds. The other bout didn't last much longer as Ryota Yada (4-3, 3) stopped Tetsuya Morisada (1-3, 1) in the second round.

Rizal, Philippines
As well as the two shows in Japan there was also a card in the Philippines as ARCI Boxing Promotions put on a card with two title fights.

The card began with a very competitive Welterweight bout between Judy Anonuevo (2-1, 1) and the debuting Reagan Bulan (0-1) which saw Anounevo taking a majority decision victory. This was one of two majority decisions on the card with the other being a majority decision victory for Avelino Ramos (3-3) who overcame Daffy Dempo (2-3, 2) ina  6 round majority victory. The only other 6 round on the card ended in a 2nd round technical draw as Menard Abila (4-1-4, 1) suffered a badly cut eye in his bout with Felipe Cagubcob Jr (1-2-5).

The Abila/Cagubcob fight was one of two technical decisions as Ian Ligutan (6-0-2, 3) suffered an opening round technical draw with Dexter Dimaculangan (3-4-5, 1) in a bout scheduled for 8. The other scheduled 8 rounder on the card was a chaotic, though short lived affair, as Jomar Borbon (4-17-2, 2) was dropped twice before managing to stop Jestoni Autida (4-2, 1) in one of the most action packed 95 seconds in the ring this year.

The first title bout saw Rowel Rosia (8-2, 4) claim the PBF Flyweight title with a dominant performance against Albert Alcoy (14-19-7, 4). Alcoy's experience couldn't neuter the power of Rosia who scored knockdowns in rounds 4, 5 and 7 to take a clear decision victory.

In the main event the unbeaten Renerio Arizala (11-0-1, 4) claimed the previously vacant Philippines Luzon Professional Boxing Association (LuzProBA) Light Flyweight title courtesy of  decision over JC Francisco (6-8-2, 2). Although Arizala had a point deducted late in the fight he was the clear winner on the cards in a pretty competitive contest.

(Image, of Go, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Some days are great for Asian boxing, others aren't. Sadly we tend to feel that this past Saturday wasn't one of the best, despite a high profile bout for friend of the site.

Quebec, Canada
The aforementioned "friend of the site" was Japanese based American Charlie Ota (24-2-1, 16) was unfortunately defeated by the highly touted American Jermell Charlo (24-0, 11) though did manage to give a decent account of himself. Ota was significantly smaller than Charlo and had to find a way to cope with a huge reach advantage, unfortunately his solution was a somewhat predictable bull rush. Despite the issues with the reach and height of Charlo there was some great success for Ota who dropped Charlo in round 3, albeit with just a flash knockdown. By the final bell however Charlo was the clear winner though was less than impressive.

Metro Manila, Philippines
In Metro Manilla Johnny Elorde Promotions put on a small show involving some of his prospects. This included the promising Giemel Magramo (10-0, 7) who scored a very impressive stoppage over the usually tough Pit Anacaya (8-24-2, 1). Anacaya had been stopped just 6 times in his previous 33 fights though it took Magramo just 3 rounds to land a fight ending body shot.

Magramo wasn't the only man to find the body on this show as Rene Patilano (11-1-2, 6) used his body attack to take out Ricky Oyan (4-20-2, 2) in the 5th round. This was arguably the best win of Patilano's career and although Oyan is just a journeyman it's the sort of result that will give the once beaten prospect a bit of a confidence booster.

The only other stoppage came very early on the card as the unbeaten Wilbert Berondo (3-0, 2) took out the debuting Brendo Bokingkito (0-1) in just 105 seconds. Aged 18 we have no big issue wit Berondo taking his time to get going but we're lead to believe that kid does have a lot of talent and if developed right he could be one to look out for down the line.

The highest profile bout to go the distance saw  the unbeaten Jay Loto (8-0) come through a few struggles en route to scoring his 8th straight decision victory. Sadly for Loto his lack of power did make things very difficult against Lester Abutan (5-2-2, 2) and we'd not be shocked if the 20 year old Loto fails to move beyond Filipino domestic level, unless he can add some meat to his shots.

The other decision bouts on the show were both incredibly close. In a 4 rounder Jetlee Formentera (1-0) narrowly over-came fellow debutant Eric Apolinario (0-1) in a 4 majority decision, whilst in a 6 rounder Diomel Diocos (3-1-2, 2) claimed his first decision win by narrowly out pointing Ryan Medes (1-2-1).

Cotabato del Sur, Philippines
Filipino fans got a second domestic card courtesy of Jim Claude Manangquil and Dexter T. Tan who had a show featuring 5 bouts, including 2 title bouts.

The main event here saw Raymond Tabugon (13-3-1, 5) claim the WBC Asia Council Continental Flyweight title courtesy of a decision over the previously unbeaten Jake Bornea (6-1, 3). Bornea was dropped in round 2 and although he tried to get back into the bout he never able to over come the experience edge Tabugon had.

The co-feature, and another title fight, saw former world title challenger Jether Oliva (21-2-2, 10) take a majority decision over the tough, though limited, Wilber Andogan (10-15-4, 4) in a bout that saw Oliva claim the WBF International Light Flyweight title.Although the bout was scored a majority decision in favour of Oliva only one of the 3 judges had the bout even close.

In an impressive performance on the under-card John Vincent Moralde (9-0, 5) forced a 2nd round KO over the limited and light hitting Rolando Omela (5-10-3, 1). Moralde's victory was one of two stoppages on the under-card with Jelbirt Gomera (4-0, 4) continuing the perfect start to his record with a 6th round KO against Jordan Catubay (6-3-1, 3).

The only other bout on this card saw Virgel de Goma (2-1) claim a 6 round decision over the tough Renante Suacasa (6-11, 1).

Queensland, Australia
"Down under" things went badly for Asian fighters with 4 separate Asian's losing to Australians. 

The most disappointing of the Asian's in action in Queensland was the opening round defeat of Thailand's Pramool Boonpok (0-6) who was stopped by the debuting Kolby Johnston (1-0, 1). Pramool had been dropped prior to the knockout and really looks like a man who should be looking for another line of work as boxing doesn't seem to be good for him or his health.

A Thai who put up a better effort was Arnon Yuchareon (0-2) who was beaten, by majority decision, by Zorran Cassady (1-0). Arnon managed to make things competitive despite being the loser.

A third Thai who lost was the teak tough Paitoon Jaikom (1-6) who dropped a decision to, yet another debutant, Dean Thomas (1-0). Paitoon, unlike Pamool, is a tough guy and knows how to look after himself and with that in mind we've no problem with Paitoon going on and making a career as a solid journeyman level fighter.

The other Asian on this card was Filipino Robert Lerio (16-20-1, 6) who put up a very credible effort against Jason Cooper (10-2-1, 5). Despite losing Lerio did put a good test for Cooper who managed to avenge his first career defeat, which came back in 2012, though proved little more than the fact he has slightly improved over the last 2 years.

Baja California, Mexico
It wasn't all bad for travelling fighters as Filipino Jun Doliguez (19-1-2, 14) avenged his upset defeat to Gabriel Francisco Pina (11-12-5, 4). Pina did beat Doliguez earlier this year but this time Doliguez managed to right the wrong, even though he'll still have that "1" on his record.


(Image, of Ota and Charlo at the weigh in, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Not many days are genuinely packed with action but this past Friday was with action around the world, a lot of which was genuinely notable.

Tokyo, Japan
The sole Japanese card of the day took place at the Korakuen Hall and was the much anticipated Dangan 101 B Class Tournament Finals. This show, which in total featured 9 bouts, shared the card well between none tournament bouts and tournament bouts. In total there were 4 B class tournament bouts, 3 none tournament bouts and 2 Rookie of the year qualifiers.

The show began with Mimura Toshinobu (1-0-1) recording his first career victory as he took a hard fought decision over the still win-less Kazuhiro Baba (0-2-1). 

Following the show's opening bout we then had the first Rookie of The Year qualifying bout which saw the unbeaten 17 year old Kenya Yamashita (3-0, 2) narrowly over-come the more experienced Kadomoto Tatsuji (3-5, 1). This bout, which saw Yamashita taking a split decision, was easily the toughest of his young career and hopefully he'll use the experience and struggles to develop. It was a tough win but the sort of character building win that does a fighter a lot of good in the long run. The show's third bout was also a Rookie of the Year Qualifying bout which saw Toshiki Maruyama (3-4, 2) taking a split decision over the previously unbeaten Akinori Kubota (2-1, 1).

The show's fourth bout saw Naoto Takanashi (4-7-2, 3) fighting a 4th round technical draw with Kazuyuki Nakayama (4-4-3, 1). It was a disappointing ending to what was a very even contest up to the stoppage point. In the show's 5th contest  Kyosuke Sawada (1-2) scored his first career victory as he took a decision over Hiroshi Miwa (4-6, 2) in what was the final bout before the show moved on to the main section of the card, the B class tournament finals.

The first of the finals was in the Super Flyweight division as Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi (8-5-1, 4) stopped the chinny Masatoshi Tomita (5-7-2) in the second round. This was the 5th stoppage loss for Tomita who simply hasn't got the durability to survive in the ring against anyone who can really put some snap on their shots.

Yamaguchi's victory in the Super Flyweight division was followed by a majority decision victory for Takumi Takahashi (6-3-1, 1) who took home the Super Bantamweight title by over-coming the heavy handed Shota Kumazawa (6-6-1, 5). This bout was more competitive than the previous bout but two of the judges felt that Takahashi did far more than enough to just "deserve" the victory as used his height and reach to great effect.

In the Featherweight final fans saw Hideto Miyoshi (7-3-1, 5) come up short against an inspired Yoshiyuki Takabayashi (8-3, 3). Takabayashi was always in control though couldn't find the extra gear needed to finish off his foe.

The biggest disappointment of the show was the main event which finished with a 5th round technical draw between between Ryoichi Tamura (2-1-1) and Yoichi Ide (1-1-1, 1). The bout was bloody, entertaining and well fought though unfortunately accidental founds opened up wounds that forced an early decision. In the end it was a split draw though Tamura took home the title as the card in his favour was wider than the one in favour of Ide. Hopefully we'll see these two rematch each other somewhere down the line.

Osaka, Japan
A second Japanese show took place in Osaka with 8 bouts in total, though all of them were of less interest than the Dangan tournament. 

The main event was every bit as competitive as it looked on paper as Shunji Nagata (9-11-2, 3) narrowly over-came Yusaku Suzuki (8-12-2, 5) in a competitive contest. The Nagata/Suzuki bout was much better than the co-main event which saw Masato Morisaki (8-3-1, 5) make very light work of Thai debutant Wut Pitakparmuangkem (0-1) with a first round stoppage.


In the shows 6 rounders Kazuharu Morimoto (11-7-3, 2) scored a 6th round stoppage over the wonderfully named Monkey Shuhei (5-4-1, 2) whilst Yuichi Arai (8-8-1, 2) took a decision over Tomohiro Iwasaki (4-5-2) in a bout that was surprisingly one sided.

Half of this shows bouts were 4 rounders and these saw just the one stoppage as Toru Kageyama (4-5-1, 2) stopped Michio Mizuno (1-2-1) in just 2 rounds. The other 3 contests all went the distance as Masahiko Jikan (2-2) defeated Ryuto Araya (2-6-1, 2) in a clear decision, Tatsunori Fukunaga (4-4) levelled his record off with a narrow victory over the debuting Yuki Arakawa (0-1) and Kazuki Ikemoto (2-1-1) took a very narrow majority decision over Shoki Nozawa (0-5)

Krasnodar, Russia
In Russia we also had a big profile card that featured titles aplenty across a number of divisions, and in both genders.

The card began, as most do, with some low profile action on the under-card. These under-card bouts saw the once beaten Arbi Madaev (4-1, 1) claim his first stoppage taking out the awful and ridiculously easy to stop Valentyn Trostyanchuk (0-9) inside a round. Another of the under-card bouts saw Apti Ustarkhanov (5-1-2, 1) take the undefeated record of Dilmurod Satybaldiev (4-1, 2) who was out-pointed over 6 rounds.

After the under-card we then moved on to the under-card bouts, the first of which saw Aliklych Kanbolatov (8-2, 4) claim the lightly regarded UBO International Middleweight title with a stoppage over the inexperienced Vladyslav Yeromenko (1-1). Kanbolatov wasn't the only fighter to claim a UBO title as the unbeaten Natalia Smirnova (8-0, 5) also claimed a UBO title. Smirnova claimed both the UBO female and WIBA Super Featherweight titles with an opening round stoppage over the very limited Yarkor Chavez Annan (7-7-1, 3).

Smirnova was one of two women to win in title bouts on this show with WBC female Super Middleweight champion Nikki Adler (12-0, 7) defending her title with a 9th round stoppage over Gifty Amanua Ankrah (3-4-1, 2). Unfortunately the female Super Middleweight division is really poor right now and Adler is probably the second best in the world, though we thunk she's a very long way behind the #1 fighter Christina Hammer who is head and shoulders the best in the division.

In another title bout fans got to see Sergey Ekimov (11-0, 5) extend his unbeaten run with a second 2nd round stoppage over Mikhail Krinitsin (11-5-2, 7). This victory got to see Ekimov claim the regional WBC CISBB Light Heavyweight title. Ekimov's compatriot Dmitry Kudryashov (14-0, 14) continued his impressive start to professional life as he took out Ivica Bacurin (17-6-1, 7) and with the victory Kudryashov scored a defence of his CISBB title.

New York, USA
In the final of the Lightweight Boxcino tournament fans got to see Spanish based Russian Petr Petrov (35-4-2, 17) stopped Fernando Carcamo (17-6, 13) in a very impressive performance. Petrov started carefully though slowly broke down and eventually stopped Carcamo who looked out of his depth from the opening round to the eventual stoppage. The victory is a huge one for Petrov who will likely be moved on to bigger and better things though hopefully his team won't throw him in to bouts he can't win, as they did when he fought Marcos Maidana a few years back.

(Image, courtesy of boxingnews.jp, comes from the Tamura/Ide bout)

Kyoto, Japan
In this sport there are fighters destined for greatness. Fighters who has such unreal natural talent that they are viewed as blessed. One such fighter who falls in to that category is Japanese Middleweight sensation Ryota Murata (4-0, 4) who scored his 4th stoppage earlier today with a very straight forward victory over Mexico's Jesus Angel Nerio (12-3, 6).

The bout started with Murata in charge, with him coming forward, showing off lovely variety in his work and generally showing that the two men were in completely different leagues. This continued through to the end of round 4 with Murata hardly breaking sweat whilst dominating the bout with accurate and heavy handed attacks. 

In the 5th round the Japanese fighter began to up his work rate and he seriously rocked Nerio after connecting with a huge head shot. He was unable to put the Mexican down in a follow up attack, with the bell coming just before Nerio was knocked down, but the damage had been down with gust busting body shots and vicious head shots, The minute break between rounds wasn't so much respite for Nerio but more a case of delaying the inevitable which came in round 6 after Nerio suffered a second knockdown in the round and decided to stay down for the count. It was clear the Mexican was done though it hardly looked like Murata had even began in a very impressive performance,

Murata's bout was the headline contest, the main event, though it wasn't the only bout on the show. 

Earlier on the card had featured several other bouts.

For Japanese based Filipino Malcolm Tunacao (34-3-3, 20), the former WBC Flyweight, things were tough but successful as he out pointed South Korea's very tough Joo-Hyun Jung (6-3-1, 2). Jung put up an excellent effort and gave Tunacao the type of work out that he'll have wanted despite the fight being tougher than anyone would have expected.

Tunacao's former rival Christian Esquivel (27-5, 20), a man Tunacao stopped in 7, had a nightmare showing as he was stopped by Japanese youngster Shohei Omori (12-0, 7). Omori, a relative unknown in international boxing circles, was thoroughly impressive and could, or rather should, find himself in the next WBC world rankings considering that Esquivel was the #9 ranked Bantamweight prior to this bout.

Incidentally both Tunacao and Esquivel had been stopped in recent WBC title fights by the sensational Shinsuke Yamanaka. Omori however stopped Esquivel quicker than Yamanaka in a performance that really should open the eyes of a lot of fans.

Tatsuya IkemizuOmori was one of 3 highly regarded man on the under-card. Another one of those men was Sho Nakazawa (4-0, 4) who, like Murata in the main event, scored his 4th successive stoppage. Nakazawa made very light work of Indonesia's Gun Tinular (11-17-1, 6), and ended the bout with a nasty body attack as he continued to impress fans with his speed, skills and power.

The other highly regarded unbeaten prospect on the card was Tatsuya Ikemizu (10-0, 4) who stopped Oke Haryanto (5-2-1, 2) inside a round as he put on one of his most impressive performances so far.

(Image, of Murata landing a body shot, courtesy of boxingnews.jp)

Tokyo, Japan
The biggest Asian show of the day was at the Korakuen Hall as we had the next round of the East Japan Rookie of the Year competition. The show, which had 10 bouts in total, featured fights in weight divisions ranging from the Minimumweight division up to the Welterweight.

At Minimumweight fans saw Hayato Kai (2-1-1) over-come the well matched Shunsuke Iwasaki (1-2, 1) in a well fought decision and Hizuki Saso (2-0) maintained his unbeaten record with a very tough victory over Daisuke Sudo (1-2).

The next lowest division to be featured was the Bantamweight division which also saw two very competitive bouts as Ryohei Takahashi (2-1-1) defeated the more experienced Yutaro Nakajima (3-3) and Junichi Obara (6-2-1, 1) overcame Satoru Morishita (3-6, 2). Both of these were very hard fought decisions with little separating either contest. 

The most popular weight was Super Featherweight with 3 bouts at 130lbs, including the closest bout of the show which saw Yutaka Ekawa (3-2-1) take a majority decision over Ryosuke Koizumi (2-3). Ekawa was joined in the next round by two unbeaten fighters. One of those was Yuichiro Kasuya (2-0, 1) who scored the first decision win of his career as he over-came Shintaro Hirohama (1-2-1, 1). The third man to progress at Super Flyweight was Hikaru Akutsu (3-0, 2) who stopped the previously unbeaten Tatsuro Jin (2-1, 1) in the second round.

In the show's notable upset Shoma Sekine (2-1-2) defeated the heavy handed Masahiro Kobayashi (3-2-1, 2) to progress in the Lightweight division before Light Welterweight hopeful Minoru Iizuka (3-1, 3) stopped the previously perfect Joji Tsuchiya (1-1, 1) in the show's penultimate contest.

In the show's final bout fans got to see the talents of the very well regarded Hiroki Ashizawa (2-0, 2) who made very light work of Makoto Takahashi (1-6-1, 1) in a bout that lasted just 169 seconds.

Queensland, Australia
We are slightly disappointed to report that Australian based Filipino Joel Dela Cruz (17-21-2, 7) was defeated this past Wednesday as the hard hitting Ozan Craddock (7-1, 5) beat him over the 6 round distance. 

Nuevo León, Mexico
In Mexico we saw a genuine surprise as Japan's Shoky Sakai (17-3, 11) continued his interesting Mexico based career with a victory over the previously unbeaten Omar Barajas (10-01, 4). Sakai, unlike many Japanese fighters, is actually based away from Japan and is carving out an excellent little career even if he's not getting much attention from fans either in Japan or in Mexico.